Research Question:How are portfolio policies different from school to school and what are the goals? Contributed by: Makayla Proffit
1.) Editorial/ Opinion EssayPresentation at First International Conference on the e-Portfolio[1] Summary:
This article starts off in a unique way. It discusses portfolios as being modern day memory boxes that parents kept for their children. The author describes them as being “the genuine exemplar for documenting children’s learning over time”. It then moves on to the definition of a portfolio in education, which “is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas [over time]”. Finally it moves on to more specific standardized things that should be included in a portfolio. Reaction:
I really liked this article a lot because I like the idea of portfolios being memory boxes. In my high school, no one really thought of them as something meaningful; we were told that they should contain meaningful work, but then in classes we were assigned specific projects that had to go in our portfolio to show a specific standard, so we never really had that much choice into what went into our digital portfolio.
2.)Analysis Article: The Influence of High School Graduation Requirement Policies in Mathematics and Science on Student Course-Taking Patterns and Achievement[2] Summary:
This article describes the relationship between high school graduation requirements in math and science and achievement in those areas. Basically, schools have been implementing more and more graduation requirements, and more required credits are needed. In this study, they study the relationship between “increases in the number of credits students earned in mathematics and science, increases in the level of mathematics and science classes completed by students, and increases in student achievement in math and science, as measured by 8th- to 12th-grade test score gains.” What they found was interesting: there wasn’t that much of a correlation. Students did take more classes in math and science, but they did not go on to the optional more advanced courses, and proficiency scores did not vary from high schools with different graduation requirements. This shows that standard such as these “may not be sufficient to improve student proficiency in these subjects”. Reaction:
I found this article to be very enlightening. It shows that the school system has excellent goals in mind, but when it comes down to it making graduation requirements higher does not do anything. Students will complete what’s required of them because they want to graduate, but most of the time they don’t learn anything and don’t actually achieve the goals educators had in mind when creating these standards. I think this is exactly what is happening with the graduation portfolio system, and maybe the creators of his system should look at and make some needed changes.
3.)Scholarly/ Professional Journal: Realizing the Promise of Standards-Based Education[3] Summary:
This article describes the promise of standards-based education, but also talks about the positives and negatives and discusses what should be changed to make it work. Standards-based education is a very good idea in theory, and the successful results can be seen in many school systems. However, the unsuccessful results can also be seen in many school systems. One of the major problems is that people try to put in too many standards, and in education less is more, or at least it should be here. “Although U.S. mathematics textbooks attempt to address 175 percent more topics than do German textbooks and 350 percent more topics than do Japanese textbooks, both German and Japanese students significantly outperform U.S. students in mathematics. Similarly, although U.S. science textbooks attempt to cover 930 percent more topics than do German textbooks and 433 percent more topics than do Japanese textbooks, both German and Japanese students significantly outperform U.S. students in science achievement as well”. Reaction:
This article makes very good points, especially with the less is more in education. One of the problems with the graduation portfolio is that there used to be so many things that we needed for each class, a certain number of artifacts per class per quarter. By the end of a year students would amass over 40 artifacts, and this is huge number and there is no way to present that many things.
4.)Summary Article: Massachusetts: One State's Approach to Setting Performance Levels on the Alternate Assessment. Synthesis Report.[4] Summary:
This article describes Massachusetts’ way of setting performance levels. They require students with disabilities to submit portfolios, as a way of meeting the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) Alternate Assessments. Alternate assessments are evaluated to meet state standards that show a “competency determination” that is needed for high school graduation and diploma. It then goes through what is involved in making the portfolio and how they are scored. Reaction:
Basically, the portfolios are made and scored the exact way digital graduation portfolios are made and scored. I found it interesting because this is a way of alternate assessment, not a graduation requirement for average students. At my high school, the children with disabilities were not required to make a graduation portfolio, and if some were they had much lower standards. I think that this article shows that students with disabilities are very capable of making a graduation portfolio, and should; it’s not fair to them to not.
5.)Editorial/ Opinion Essay:Portfolios, the Pied Piper of Teacher Certification Assessments: Legal and Psychometric Issues: Portfolios as Certification “Tests”[5] Summary:
This article describes the portfolio system and comes to the conclusion that portfolios are essentially tests, “forms of testing may include traditional multiple-choice tests, written essays, oral examinations, and more elaborate performance tasks. Hence, portfolios that are composed of written reflections (a form of an essay) and products representative of the candidate’s skills, and performance, fall under a professionally acceptable definition of “test””. The author also raises some concerns about the portfolio system, such as how representative is the work in portfolios and how much help did the students’ receive. Reaction:
This makes a very good point about portfolios being a form of test. Since they technically are, they should be regulated more carefully and have a stricter set of standards to adhere to. Also, the work should be monitored more carefully and things should be noted such as how much help the student received and if it was a group project, etc. Also, the standards across at least a state should be the same.
^ Peter Teitelbaum, “American Educational Research Association: The Influence of High School Graduation Requirement Policies in Mathematics and Science on Student Course-Taking Patterns and Achievement,” 2003, http://epa.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/1/31.
^ Judy R. Wilkerson, “Portfolios, the Pied Piper of Teacher Certification Assessments: Legal and Psychometric Issues: Portfolios as Certification “Tests”,” http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n45/.
Research Question: How are portfolio policies different from school to school and what are the goals?
Contributed by: Makayla Proffit
1.) Editorial/ Opinion Essay Presentation at First International Conference on the e-Portfolio[1]
Summary:
This article starts off in a unique way. It discusses portfolios as being modern day memory boxes that parents kept for their children. The author describes them as being “the genuine exemplar for documenting children’s learning over time”. It then moves on to the definition of a portfolio in education, which “is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas [over time]”. Finally it moves on to more specific standardized things that should be included in a portfolio.
Reaction:
I really liked this article a lot because I like the idea of portfolios being memory boxes. In my high school, no one really thought of them as something meaningful; we were told that they should contain meaningful work, but then in classes we were assigned specific projects that had to go in our portfolio to show a specific standard, so we never really had that much choice into what went into our digital portfolio.
2.)Analysis Article: The Influence of High School Graduation Requirement Policies in Mathematics and Science on Student Course-Taking Patterns and Achievement[2]
Summary:
This article describes the relationship between high school graduation requirements in math and science and achievement in those areas. Basically, schools have been implementing more and more graduation requirements, and more required credits are needed. In this study, they study the relationship between “increases in the number of credits students earned in mathematics and science, increases in the level of mathematics and science classes completed by students, and increases in student achievement in math and science, as measured by 8th- to 12th-grade test score gains.” What they found was interesting: there wasn’t that much of a correlation. Students did take more classes in math and science, but they did not go on to the optional more advanced courses, and proficiency scores did not vary from high schools with different graduation requirements. This shows that standard such as these “may not be sufficient to improve student proficiency in these subjects”.
Reaction:
I found this article to be very enlightening. It shows that the school system has excellent goals in mind, but when it comes down to it making graduation requirements higher does not do anything. Students will complete what’s required of them because they want to graduate, but most of the time they don’t learn anything and don’t actually achieve the goals educators had in mind when creating these standards. I think this is exactly what is happening with the graduation portfolio system, and maybe the creators of his system should look at and make some needed changes.
3.)Scholarly/ Professional Journal: Realizing the Promise of Standards-Based Education[3]
Summary:
This article describes the promise of standards-based education, but also talks about the positives and negatives and discusses what should be changed to make it work. Standards-based education is a very good idea in theory, and the successful results can be seen in many school systems. However, the unsuccessful results can also be seen in many school systems. One of the major problems is that people try to put in too many standards, and in education less is more, or at least it should be here. “Although U.S. mathematics textbooks attempt to address 175 percent more topics than do German textbooks and 350 percent more topics than do Japanese textbooks, both German and Japanese students significantly outperform U.S. students in mathematics. Similarly, although U.S. science textbooks attempt to cover 930 percent more topics than do German textbooks and 433 percent more topics than do Japanese textbooks, both German and Japanese students significantly outperform U.S. students in science achievement as well”.
Reaction:
This article makes very good points, especially with the less is more in education. One of the problems with the graduation portfolio is that there used to be so many things that we needed for each class, a certain number of artifacts per class per quarter. By the end of a year students would amass over 40 artifacts, and this is huge number and there is no way to present that many things.
4.)Summary Article: Massachusetts: One State's Approach to Setting Performance Levels on the Alternate Assessment. Synthesis Report.[4]
Summary:
This article describes Massachusetts’ way of setting performance levels. They require students with disabilities to submit portfolios, as a way of meeting the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) Alternate Assessments. Alternate assessments are evaluated to meet state standards that show a “competency determination” that is needed for high school graduation and diploma. It then goes through what is involved in making the portfolio and how they are scored.
Reaction:
Basically, the portfolios are made and scored the exact way digital graduation portfolios are made and scored. I found it interesting because this is a way of alternate assessment, not a graduation requirement for average students. At my high school, the children with disabilities were not required to make a graduation portfolio, and if some were they had much lower standards. I think that this article shows that students with disabilities are very capable of making a graduation portfolio, and should; it’s not fair to them to not.
5.)Editorial/ Opinion Essay: Portfolios, the Pied Piper of Teacher Certification Assessments: Legal and Psychometric Issues: Portfolios as Certification “Tests”[5]
Summary:
This article describes the portfolio system and comes to the conclusion that portfolios are essentially tests, “forms of testing may include traditional multiple-choice tests, written essays, oral examinations, and more elaborate performance tasks. Hence, portfolios that are composed of written reflections (a form of an essay) and products representative of the candidate’s skills, and performance, fall under a professionally acceptable definition of “test””. The author also raises some concerns about the portfolio system, such as how representative is the work in portfolios and how much help did the students’ receive.
Reaction:
This makes a very good point about portfolios being a form of test. Since they technically are, they should be regulated more carefully and have a stricter set of standards to adhere to. Also, the work should be monitored more carefully and things should be noted such as how much help the student received and if it was a group project, etc. Also, the standards across at least a state should be the same.